The Golden Age of Basketball-Chapter 1779 - 54: Don’t Go to Eagle County (2)
However, during these days of rest, peace was not found within the Trail Blazers team; the players' focus was not concentrated on basketball games.
After eliminating the Suns in the fourth round and returning to Portland, Kobe Bryant flew to Los Angeles to propose to his girlfriend Vanessa.
He brought a diamond engagement ring worth $100,000 and openly showcased this relationship before the media, expressing that he and Vanessa were not playing around but were stepping into the hall of marriage.
This event immediately caused a huge stir across the entire West Coast. Kobe and Vanessa appeared at the fifth game between the Lakers and Supersonics, drawing more attention than the game itself.
Far away in Portland, Pamela was originally waiting for her son's victorious return, but instead of waiting for her son, she saw the news of Kobe's proposal on television.
Pamela was furious and flew to Los Angeles with her husband; they opposed this marriage!
Later, this strong, proud woman also learned that Kobe had been using money to resolve debt issues for Vanessa's family, which ignited even more anger within her.
Currently, in Kobe's family situation, the elder was spending money in Italy to buy a team, but after a season of operations, faced disastrous losses.
Joe Bryant only knew how to play basketball and completely lacked knowledge on how to manage European teams. He thought European teams were like the NBA, generously offering contracts to players, playing well to win games, selling tickets to make money, thereby profiting and forming a positive cycle.
However, the European league follows different operational logic, completely different from the NBA. Here, there is no salary cap, no league subsidies or guarantees. You need to manage the club, establish good local relations, and so on.
In short, this business venture went bankrupt, all the money Kobe earned was squandered in Europe; his wealth wasn't substantial enough to support the operation of a professional team.
And as for the younger one, becoming increasingly uncontrollable, his love affair with Vanessa was causing a sensation. The more Pamela opposed, the more Kobe wanted to be with Vanessa.
Pamela originally thought, young people, let them fall in love. When they grow older, after playing around, when they get tired of it, and encounter a better world, they would come to understand and give it up by themselves.
However, her son's stubbornness exceeded her expectations, or rather, it was identical to Pamela's youthful self, yet even more rebellious and unconventional.
He outright announced the proposal in public, leading to a situation where there was no retreat. Kobe was only 20 years old.
Considering it was during the playoffs and the Trail Blazers had advanced to the Western Conference Finals, Kobe was currently the team's second figure.
The team didn't want Kobe's state to be affected by these issues, as family conflicts deeply impact a person's psyche.
Seeing herself being powerless over her son, Pamela made a phone call to Larry Bird, hoping Bird would come forward to advise Kobe not to take marriage lightly.
Bird already learned about the situation from the news; the matter in Los Angeles was already boiling over, with gossip news programs full of pictures of Kobe and Vanessa.
Bird himself experienced an irrational marriage in his youth. Back when he was in college, in 1975, in his freshman year, he stepped into marriage with his girlfriend Kendra.
But this frivolous marriage lasted only a year before it ended in divorce, and they even had a daughter, though Bird never acknowledged this girl.
Thinking of these unpleasant past memories, Bird felt obliged to remind Kobe not to easily wade into the deep river of marriage at such a young age.
On May 14th, the sixth game between the Lakers and Supersonics concluded.
In the decisive battle, the Lakers won big over the Supersonics at home, claiming the match point.
The sixth game took place in Seattle; the Lakers did not prolong the series.
They used an absolutely dominant victory at KeyArena to crush the Supersonics, eliminating their opponent 4:2 and advancing to the Western Conference Finals.
Los Angeles Lakers vs. Portland Trail Blazers, the classic Western Conference Finals showdown was about to be played again.
This marked the seventh meeting between the teams in the Western Conference Finals since 1977, 1985, 1987, 1988, 1989, and 1999.
In the previous six confrontations, Trail Blazers held a 4-win 2-loss advantage, among which, for Gan Guoyang, they faced the Lakers five times and emerged victorious in three out of five.
It could be said the Lakers have always been Gan Guoyang's biggest enemy in the West; they consistently boasted the league's best talents to contend with the Trail Blazers.
In the past, it was Magic Johnson, Skyhook Jabbar, and Pat Riley; now, it's Shaquille O'Neal, Jason Kidd, Tracy McGrady, and Phil Jackson.
Of course, the Lakers' playoff advancement wasn't smooth. In the first round against the Kings, they almost capsized, being forced into a game five by the Kings Team.
In this round facing the Seattle SuperSonics, O'Neal had some games where his performance was unstable against Ewing.
And the Lakers exposed their fighting spirit issues; they often succumbed to carelessness in some games, resulting in unexpected heavy losses.
For instance, in the first-round series against the Kings Team, games three and four were big defeats, having scored over 110 points in the first two games, but dwindling to just 88 and 91 points in the third and fourth games.
Similarly in this round, when they won, scores went over 110 points, but right after losing, they managed only 80 or 90 points, showing considerable instability.
When performing well, they were unstoppable; when trapped in adversity, they plummeted; a team that hasn't won a championship clearly lacks resilience.
